


Like Magic

by orphan_account



Category: SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Witch AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 01:30:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7199951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a little SHINee Witch AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ace (voxnoctis on tumblr)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Ace+%28voxnoctis+on+tumblr%29).



> Tumblr hates me so I'm posting this here.  
> Happy birthday to Ace, my cute QPP! I love you THIS much, okay? THIIIIIIIIS much. You make me so happy and I hope I can make you happy too. I'm sending lots of hugs and stuff too ye. Anyway, here.  
> Enjoy! :)

**Taemin - Present**

Taemin stared up at the tall, narrow house and tried to calm his heartbeat.  _ They can probably sense fear. _ No, no, okay, no. Thinking things like that would only make him more nervous. He focused instead on small details, facts, things he could be certain of, to ground himself. Graceful ivies climbing the weathered brick walls; unnaturally green by the roots, but the leaves became sparse as it came close to the roof. They almost looked like clawed hands, trying to escape something. Taemin shook his head. There was a white trellis arch over the path to the door, draped in wisteria and honeysuckle in bloom. It smelled sweet as heaven, and Taemin forgot that neither of those flowers were even in season. 

Taemin hadn’t known what to expect when he made an account on that occult internet forum. He thought for sure that everyone on there was a fake or one of those spirituals who couldn’t actually do anything extraordinary. But then he saw a video posted by that user, KimKitty14, and Taemin could just tell that it was real. He contacted the user and quickly became friendly with him. Only a few days later, Taemin received an excited message from KimKitty saying that his house was in Taemin’s area. Taemin had promised to come pay a visit the next weekend, and now here he was.

He tugged at his dangling earring as he continued to look around the well-kept front garden. Taemin knew it would be a bad idea to wander too far off the path on this property, but he figured a few steps wouldn’t be too dangerous. There was a bubbling brass fountain he wanted to take a closer look at. It was a relatively simple structure, mottled with verdigris,  essentially just a bowl with a jet in the middle. But the shape was intriguing; a cupped pair of hands that let the water trickle out over the edges of their fingers. Moss grew happily under the drip, along with some iridescent flowers Taemin couldn’t name. The water itself was surprisingly reflective. Seeing himself in it, Taemin began to wonder if his eyeliner was a bit excessive, maybe he shouldn’t have worn these earrings, would they think he was trying too hard? He took a deep breath. Too late to change anything now. Only as he turned to leave did Taemin notice the sign duct-taped to the fountain:  _ DO NOT TOUCH/DRINK!!!! Not sure exactly what it’ll do to you, but you probably don’t want to find out. Thanks! :) _ He walked a little more warily after that. 

 

 

**Jonghyun**

Jonghyun arched his back and stretched his arms up, clawing lightly at the door. When nobody responded, he let out an agitated mewl and scratched harder, making eight thin lines where the paint peeled off under his claws.

“Hey! I repainted that last week, you little- turn back so I don’t have to worry about your tiny devil paws.” Kibum didn’t even look at him when they spoke, they continued fixing their hair in front of the mirror. A visitor was coming, and the whole gang was a little excited. The four of them had been together for such a long time now that anyone new was strange. But in a good way, Jonghyun insisted. Undeniably a good sort of strange. 

With a huff, Jonghyun shifted back into his human form, making a futile attempt to brush remnants of gray fur off his white shirt. “You’re the one who made me a cat in the first place, Bummie.”

Minho croaked in agreement. “Oh, shut up,” Kibum said. It wasn’t entirely clear who they said it to. “Would you rather be a frog, Jjong?” Minho croaked again and Key poked him reprimandingly. “I said, shut up. You know why I turned you into an amphibian. So rude, my goodness. Behave yourself if you want me to turn you back.”

Jonghyun looked up at the man leaning over the edge of the loft, carefully tending to the plants hanging from the ceiling. It wasn’t unusual; Jinki preferred to spend his time with organisms of the green-and-leafy variety. That was, when he wasn’t eating or sleeping. He was fun when he did decide to socialize, though.  
Fighting a mischievous grin, Jonghyun called out to him very loud and very suddenly. Startled, Jinki lost his balance and tipped dangerously far over the railing, spewing a babble of rude words. “Don’t do that, Jonghyun!” He reprimanded once he’d found safety again.

Jonghyun didn’t bother to stifle his giggle. “Give me your glasses.”

“What, why?” Jinki wiped his hands on his jeans and started down the old wooden ladder.

“They look cute on me. Come on,” he held out his hand and waited for his friend to reach the ground. With a sigh, Jinki pulled the round lenses off and placed them in Jonghyun’s palm. “ _ Anyway _ ,” Jonghyun said as he put them on, “can I open the door already or what?”

“Don’t be silly,” Kibum scoffed.   
“They have to come in on their own,” Jinki absently reminded him, squinting at the grandfather clock on the far wall. As if the guest was supposed to arrive at any specific time. Kibum had just said _today_ , and Jonghyun hadn’t been the only one to wake up at midnight with anticipation.

Theatrics was Kibum’s territory, but Jonghyun still made a point of groaning loudly and slumping into the high-backed overstuffed chair by the door. Nobody responded, which was somewhat disappointing. He picked impatiently at the cracking leather, trying to remember if it was supposed to be red or brown. The person coming had better hurry the hell up. Jonghyun couldn’t stand the suspense.

He jerked at a sudden noise, but it was only Kibum gasping in Jinki’s direction. The latter remained totally unaware, innocently repositioning a clay pot on the windowsill.

“Lee Jinki, I can’t believe you!” Kibum sounded rather offended. “How could you ruin your outfit so casually?”

Puzzled, Jinki turned around. “What…?”

“Your pants,” Kibum cried. “You wiped your hands on your white pants!”

Jinki looked down at his legs, surprised, as if he hadn’t even noticed that he’d done it in the first place. He swiped at the dirt stains pathetically, which only made them bigger. He flashed a bashful smile at Kibum, who sighed dramatically (see? theatrics).

“ _ Fine _ , I’ll fix it for you.” They rubbed their hands together and murmured something unintelligible under their breath as they approached Jinki, who was still smiling. Kibum squatted down in front of Jinki’s legs and paused, looking up at him disdainfully. Jinki yelped when Kibum slapped his legs a little harder than necessary, releasing a small flash of light and a metallic scent. “You’re welcome.”

“Thanks, Key.”

Meanwhile, Jonghyun’s eyes were drawn again to Minho, who was hopping dejectedly all over the tarot deck someone (Kibum) had left lying on the table. Jonghyun kicked out his leg to get the drama queen’s attention. “Minho’s been a permanent frog for a week already. Why don’t you turn him back, just so he can make a good first impression on our guest?”

Kibum whined at him, but relented after a few moments of consideration. They did understand the importance of appearances, after all.

 

**Minho - Past**

His mom was a witch. She’d been taking Minho to watch the coven’s rituals ever since he could remember, his eyes captured by flames and flowers, falling asleep to the murmur of spells being cast. By the time he was twelve, he could recognize a healing charm faster than his own reflection. He knew the effects of full-moonlight better than he knew the multiplication table, knew the difference between rosemary and thyme better than the difference between “boy” and “girl”- and truthfully he still didn’t really know the difference. He could spot an unfamiliar witch in a crowd more easily than he could read. 

So Minho wasn’t doing so well in school. Twelve year old “boys” tend to be hyperactive, aggressive, excitable. That’s what they told him. Lots of people have dyslexia. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe all the teachers, clearly they only wanted to help him. It was just that he didn’t particularly care. Minho didn’t need to read well to do magic; he already knew plenty of spells by heart. Witches didn’t need algebra, witches just needed nature and each other. The coven would take care of him, he thought, why did he even waste time at school when he could be learning how to levitate soccer balls?

 

That’s what he told his parents when they saw his report card. It frightened him, how fast their expressions morphed from disappointment and outrage to regret, pity. They looked weak, like a flimsy apology, like parents are never supposed to look. They looked like, I’m sorry, Minho. They looked like, No, Minho, you’re not a witch.

The teachers also told him that twelve year old boys don’t cry anymore. 

 

Still, Minho couldn’t give up on the ritual meetings. He kept visiting the coven house with his mom every weekend. The witches, as always, refused to let him be sad that he wasn’t one of them. In fact, they said, just because he couldn’t cast spells didn’t mean he didn’t have magic. Actually, it made him even more useful.

Obviously he’d known about familiars before. Their coven was average-sized, there were at least ten familiar members. Minho knew them all by name and spoke to them sometimes, but never about magic. It was unclear to him what they actually contributed, and he never asked for fear of being rude. Minho’s mom asked them to mentor him, and so Minho started spending every afternoon at the coven house. The familiars became like a second set of parents, making him finish his homework before doing witchy stuff. Minho learned to control the flow of his magic, learned an in-depth history of the relationship between witches and familiars- which sounded like it would be boring, but somehow they made it interesting- and his grades at school went up, too. He started paying attention to the familiars during the weekend rituals, the cats and the crows, the snakes and the toads, ravens and owls and foxes. How they stalked around the circle of witches, the flames reflected in their eyes. The witches weren’t strong enough for this without them, Minho realized, and felt a lot better.

 

He met Jonghyun at college. Everyone had been surprised that Minho had decided to actually attend after being accepted, since he had never shown much interest in anything other than soccer and magic. When they asked him why, he just shrugged and said he was bored staying at home or working. While it was sad to leave the coven, Minho was certain he’d be able to find witches wherever he went.

Magic practically flooded out of Jonghyun. It rolled off his body in waves so potent it almost made Minho sick. What kind of idiot just sits in a public, closed place like the library and secretes mystical energy all over everything like an ice cube on a hot day? The words crazy, dangerous, inexperienced, and ignorant came to mind. Minho watched Jonghyun discreetly out of the corner of his eye, trying to decide whether to talk to him or not. On the one hand, he might know about active covens in the area. On the other hand, the idiot leaking energy probably didn’t. And if anybody was hunting witches, Jonghyun was like a lighthouse. Not exactly the best companion if things got tricky. 

Minho shook his head, disgusted with himself. Was he really going to leave the poor guy to fend for himself? The only other one with magic on campus, most likely? Minho collected his books and slid into the seat across from Mr. Oblivious, trying for casual. It took a few minutes of him staring at a nonresponsive, trying-to-study Jonghyun to realize that he had earbuds in. Minho scoffed, reaching forward to tap the other student’s shoulder. 

Jonghyun jolted up, ripping one bud out of his ear, eyes wide, eyebrows raised. “Oh, crap, hi. Sorry, I didn’t see you.”  _ I noticed, _ Minho thought with a little smile. “So, uh, how can I help you?”

Minho assumed his casual posture again. “You’re Kim Jonghyun, right? I’ve seen the posters for your concert around.”

Laughing bashfully, he shook his head. “I wouldn’t call it a concert. Just some songs I wrote, at my friend’s birthday party. But it’s nice to know people are actually looking at them. Um. What was your name again?”

Minho flushed. Of course he’d forget to introduce himself. What an asshole. “Minho. Choi Minho. Listen,” he leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I don’t know if you can tell, but your magic’s spilling all over the place.”

Jonghyun leaned in as well, and Minho felt stupid, like a kid spreading ridiculous secret conspiracies. The singer’s smile was amused but doubtful. He had no idea what Minho was talking about. Figures. 

“Minho,” said Jonghyun, “what do you mean, magic?”

Minho sighed, chewing the inside of his cheeks apprehensively. “Well, let’s start with this: what do you know about witches?”

 

As expected, Jonghyun knew nothing about witches. But by the end of Minho’s explanation over tea in Minho’s apartment, he seemed very interested to learn. Minho tried his best to be patient with all of Jonghyun’s questions. No, I’m not a witch. Yes, I grew up around magic. No, I can’t do spells. No, nobody turned me into an animal yet. Or wait, unless you count that one time by accident. Yes, I’m sure you have magic (too much, if you ask me). Actually no, you’re not a witch either.

“So, I’m like you?”

Minho nodded. “A familiar.”  
“How can you tell?”

Pride tugged at the corner of Minho’s lips. He shrugged. “When you know magic as well as I do, you notice the difference.”

“So when do we start?” Jonghyun’s eyes were sparkling and full of awe in a way that had Minho short of breath. It took him a second to understand that he’d been asked a question.

“Uh, what do you mean?”

Jonghyun grinned. “Aren’t you gonna teach me?”

Minho blinked. It had crossed his mind, and Jonghyun certainly needed to know how to dam the energy flow, but. What was the point of learning familiarity if there was nobody to help with witchcraft?

Hearing this didn’t deter Jonghyun at all. “Well,” he said, “I know people on campus. I am a sophomore, after all. We can look for witches together!”

Minho didn’t think it would be as easy as that, but Jonghyun was so enthusiastic. He smiled. “Alright, why not?” 

Jonghyun’s grin widened, and Minho felt like this might be worth it.

 

 

 

**Jonghyun** **  
**

Over the next few weeks, Jonghyun and Minho started meeting more and more often. He was enjoying the opportunity to get to know the unfairly tall but very sweet freshman. However, Jonghyun wasn’t exactly getting the magic lessons Minho had advertised. It was a lot more like high school history class, but instead of the Civil Rights Movement, he was learning about how familiars fought to be treated like humans rather than animals by the witching community. It was super boring and had nothing to do with anything, but Minho’s excitement about the subject almost made Jonghyun want to like it, too. Almost. 

“And there used to be these awful work conditions, like witches would expect familiars to be in animal form almost constantly so they could use them for spells whenever, which is totally draining. Did I explain the animal thing to you yet?”

Jonghyun snapped back to reality, clearing his throat in a lame (but apparently successful?) attempt to hide the fact that he’d been zoned out for the past twenty minutes. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, it’s a pretty simple transformation spell. It helps in familiar training. You learn to associate being human with containing your magic, and then releasing it when you’re in animal form. That way you don’t leak all over the place- like you are now- and your magic is readily available for any witch you’d want to supplement. It’s a pretty ancient practice, actually-”

Jonghyun immediately stopped listening again. It was like Minho had a textbook in his brain and he was just reading out of it. Very impressive, he had to admit, but Jonghyun hadn’t signed up for any history courses this semester. 

“Minho,” he interrupted after about five minutes of Minho ranting.  
The freshman stopped mid-sentence, hands half way through a wild gesticulation. “Huh?”

“What’s your major, again?” Yeah, that was a more comfortable subject.

“Um, undecided. Why?”

Jonghyun shrugged. “No reason. I just thought you might be a history major. Or education or something.”

Minho wrinkled his nose. “Ew, really? What gave you that idea?”

Jonghyun stared at him. Was he really that un-self aware? He shook his head. “Nevermind. I’m majoring in music, in case you were wondering.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.” 

Jonghyun remembered how Minho recognized him from the posters for Kibum’s birthday party. And how Minho had been to his dorm a few times, where his half-finished melodies and music theory notes formed dunes of wrinkled sheet music on the floor. Obviously. Oh, right, Kibum’s birthday.

“You’re coming tomorrow, right, Minho?”

Minho chewed his cheeks. “Um, I dunno.”

“Please? For me?” Jonghyun flashed him a toothy smile. Minho’s lips quirked up shyly, and that was that.

 

 

**Kibum**

If the perfect birthday party was possible, Kibum would be the one to plan it. They’d been organizing this for months, rented the club, hired professional decorators, ordered a custom cake. Kibum themself had made some last-minute changes to the venue, hoping that nobody would notice anything fishy about them. Even Jonghyun had agreed to sing for free. At first, Kibum had been hesitant to invite so many people. Large crowds set off alarm bells in their brain, because the more people were present, the more likely unpleasant secrets were to resurface. Then again, anonymity was easier to achieve with more people to hide you, so disappearing would be easy, in case that became necessary. 

When Jonghyun and his plus one finally arrived - early, but not early enough for Kibum - Jonghyun introduced them as “my best friend, Kim Kibum. They/them pronouns. They’re a freshman, too.” Which was nice of him. What was also nice was that Jonghyun’s friend, Minho, was already blushing. Cute. 

“You’re a witch!” Minho blurted out. That was not so nice. Kibum narrowed their eyes a fraction, but the kid didn’t look much like a witch hunter. 

“And you need a haircut,” Kibum retorted coolly, just barely touching the loose strands that escaped Minho’s little ponytail. Minho sucked in a quick breath. Kibum smirked. “Well,” they continued, “I’m sure by now you’ve figured out why I keep Jjong around.”

Jonghyun wasn’t the least bit offended. He just started rambling about what that Minho guy was apparently teaching him. Minho was looking away, chewing his lip to hide a grin.

 

When enough people arrived, Kibum shoved Jonghyun in the direction of the stage where a standing mic was waiting for him. Which left Minho standing awkwardly next to Kibum, gripping a glass of water so tightly that his knuckles were white. Kibum found it all very amusing.

“Are you like this around Jjong, too?”

Minho chuckled uncomfortably. “I’ve just never talked to a witch outside my coven before.”

Kibum’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re a coven member?”

“Well, I was.” Minho cleared his throat. “Actually, I was going to ask you. Um. Are you- uh, is there-”

Kibum frowned, annoyed. The familiar has a coven, and they don’t? Unbelievable. “No, I’m the only witch on campus. Trust me, I’ve been to all the dorm houses, all the schools. Jonghyun’s was only magic I could find.”

“Oh,” said Minho, and excused himself.

 

Kibum and Jonghyun met for lunch like they always did. Kibum took their time pouring a generous amount of ketchup onto his burger and fries. They’d noticed that Jonghyun was itching to say something. The way he fidgeted in his seat was a clear indicator. After two minutes of that and barely touching his food, Kibum gave in. 

“Oh my god, Jonghyun, what is it?”

Jonghyun leaned his elbow on the table and looked away, suddenly shy. “So, you’ve used me for spells before?”

Kibum snorted. “Not really. I’ve never cast a spell big enough to need magic supplement. Besides, I don’t know if Minho told you, but it’s considered rude to use a familiar’s magic without their permission.” 

Jonghyun promised that Kibum could take his magic whenever they needed. They ate in silence for a while. Then he brought up covens again. Kibum tried not to be pissed. Didn’t they believe him? There. Are. No. Other. Witches. Here.

“Well, couldn’t we start our own coven, then?”

Kibum stared at him. Start their own? “I don’t know the first thing about how to run a coven,” Kibum stammered. “And besides, we’d need at least one more witch for it to be considered a coven. Otherwise it’s just a witch with two familiars.”

This information didn’t discourage Jonghyun in the slightest. “I’m sure Minho knows how covens work. He says he grew up in one-”  _ don’t remind me, _ thought Kibum- “and finding one more witch can’t be  _ that _ hard, can it?”

Kibum sighed, grinning despite himself. It was worth a shot, they supposed.

 

It took Kibum a full weekend to finish the animal spell for both Jonghyun and Minho. None of them quite knew how to turn someone into a specific animal, so they agreed to be satisfied with whatever ended up happening. It wasn’t too bad, Jonghyun got a cat form and Minho was a crow. They decided to meet up after classes as much as possible so the familiars could practice their transformations and Kibum could practice drawing magic out of them. Minho also took the opportunity to teach Jonghyun how to hold his energy in while in human form. And when they weren’t busy or together, they continued their “friendly witch-hunt” off-campus.

 

 

**Jinki**

The wind slammed the greenhouse door shut behind him. He removed his rain-freckled coat and left it to dry on the only hook vacant of a hanging basket. It was dark in the greenhouse, and the storm battered the glass so hard that the whole structure rattled. One of these days, Jinki swore once again, he would find the energy to cast a reinforcement spell on the glass panes. Not any time soon, though, as he felt he was still recovering from the one that let the rain in just enough to hydrate the flora without wasting water. It had taken Jinki weeks to complete the hex, and it left him so drained that he’d been falling asleep even more often than usual, which was really saying something. 

That was why Jinki hated abiotic magic. Metals and plastics and rocks and glass and water and all that. They just didn’t cooperate with him. They didn’t negotiate. They couldn’t be convinced to do things. Nonliving things had no aspirations, no goals, and Jinki did not at all enjoy forcing anything to do anything.

Plants, on the other hand, want very simple things. To live, to grow, to reproduce. It didn’t take much persuasion on Jinki’s part to get them to comply with his wishes to be taller and leafier, to blossom, and not to wilt. Plants were easy. Jinki only gave them what they wanted. 

And as for people- well. Jinki had found that most often, people wanted to be convinced. Even if they thought they didn’t, somewhere deep inside they were waiting, begging for Jinki’s little nudge. He was always glad to comply. 

Unfortunately, other people were not so pleased about it. There was always someone accusing him of mind control, no matter how many times Jinki explained that it was only  _ suggestion. _ He wasn’t making anyone do anything they weren’t prepared to do.

Despite that, it made his relationships difficult. Sure, he had friends, but none of them knew about witchcraft. Existing covens were usually wary of a strange witch with powers of suggestion, and rightfully so. Coven wars were very real, deadly things. So Jinki was content to live alone and pay for his college tuition by running his little plant nursery. It was a successful business, people loved the plants he sold, always healthy and beautiful and long-lasting. And Jinki always made sure the buyer would take good care of their purchase, just in case. 

 

The rain had cleared the air nicely, and the earth had a fresh, clean scent that Jinki was very fond of. He didn’t have class today, which meant he could take a nap in the greenhouse after breakfast before opening up the shop. Yeah, today was going to be a great day.

And it almost was, except then it wasn’t. Jinki had a nice shower followed by a big breakfast by the ferns. His nap was refreshing, and he woke up just in time to have lunch before heading over to the store. So far, so good. But he’d barely started working before things went south. 

Jinki was carrying in a potted arum lily for the window display when the bell jingled. He flashed a smile at the customer. “Hello! How can I help y-” Jinki just barely kept from dropping the pot. This person  _ reeked _ of magic. He hurried to place the plant in the window before closing the blinds and locking the door. He turned back to the kid, whose nervous expression contrasted the pleasant half-smile they’d been wearing before. Jinki narrowed his eyes.

“Who are you?”

Raising a hand to shake, probably in an attempt to lighten the sudden heavy mood, they replied. “Kim Jonghyun, he/him pronouns. I study at the college a few blocks from here. Uh, nice to meet you?” The hand dropped when Jinki didn’t take it.

“I’m Lee Jinki,” he grudgingly surrendered his name. “Er, any pronouns? Anyway. What do you want, and how did you find me?”

Jinki was made to listen to a long-winded story about a witch and another familiar from the school who were looking for a coven or even just one witch to start a coven with. Jonghyun finished the story with a hopeful grin. When Jinki pressed further, Jonghyun admitted that his friends were waiting outside in case he needed back up. 

Jinki narrowed his eyes. “Don’t move,” he said, not waiting to see the kid realize that he was actually stuck in place. He opened the door and looked out, spotting a pair of students loitering by his car. He invited them inside to introduce themselves before confronting them. 

“Nobody wants me in a coven. What are you really here for? Oh, you can move now, sorry.” He’d almost forgotten about Jonghyun.

The ponytailed familiar spoke up first. “No, really! We-”

“Don’t lie to me,” Jinki suggested.

“We’re not lying,” said the witch. “There aren’t a lot of us around here and being in a group would be really helpful. I don’t know how much experience you’ve had, but Jonghyun’s really new to this and I’ve got no resources.” Kibum’s face twisted, as if debating what they were about to say. “Please, if you don’t want to form a coven with us, at least point us in the right direction.”

What surprised Jinki was that they really weren’t making this up. But his next thought was,  _ obviously there aren’t many of us in this area, that’s why I came here. _ “I’m sorry,” was what he said. “The nearest coven is pretty far from here.”

Their faces fell and Jinki suddenly felt really bad about turning them away. They were just students like him, in need of some help. He crossed his arms and looked the three of them over appraisingly. Were they worth it?

“Look,” the witch sounded annoyed, “if we show you what we know how to do, maybe you’ll think we’re pathetic enough to take pity on.” They snapped their fingers a few times, changing their hair color with a small popping sound, leaving a metallic scent in the air. Jinki frowned slightly, worrying whether that would affect the plants.

Jonghyun brightened, shrinking down into his animal form- he already had one, not bad- and it was adorable, a little gray tabby that wound between Jinki’s legs and almost tripped him. The other familiar, blushing deeply, also transformed, fluttering over to perch on the cash register. 

“Careful,” Jinki warned the crow, who cawed at him in response.

Jinki chewed his thumb and glanced back at Kibum, who stared at him intently. 

“Well?”

Running a hand through his hair, Jinki looked around at them one last time. “It’s not like I have a lot to offer but… Fine. I’ll make a coven with you.”

 

 

**Taemin - Present**

Okay, so nobody had to know Taemin had almost gotten lost on his way back to the front door. The important thing was that he was there now, hand hesitating before the old-fashioned pull bell. But he’d come all the way here- no more hesitation. Immediately following the ring were several other sounds: a crash, a shout, a groan, the scrape of furniture. And then the door was open and Taemin was looking down at white hair and black framed glasses over dark cat eye makeup and a smirk and. He wasn’t sure why his heart was pounding now, whether it was the fear or the incredibly hot guy standing two feet away. The man lifted his arm and leaned across the doorframe, effectively blocking Taemin from entering. 

“Took you long enough,” said the man, drumming his ringed fingers on the doorpost. Taemin’s eyes travelled up his arm to the necklaces glinting on his chest to the predatory grin on soft, pink lips.  _ Frick _ .

“Are you a witch?” Shit, Taemin swore he was going to say something intelligent. He felt his cheeks heat up when the man laughed. 

He turned his head to speak to someone inside the house. “Did you hear that? He’s so cute!” There was no response. The man frowned. Turning back to Taemin, he moved out of the way as an invitation for him to finally come in. “I’m Jonghyun, he/him, and no. Just a familiar.” 

Taemin stepped over the threshold and Jonghyun’s smile grew back. “Taemin,” he offered, drinking in the room. It was a mess, to say the least. There was a wild assortment of furniture, almost entirely buried under layers of clothes, jewelry, and a menagerie of things Taemin couldn’t guess the purpose of for the life of him. There were also plants. Everywhere. Climbing up the walls, basking under the windows, hanging from the ceiling. Somebody was kneeling over a fallen pot- probably the cause of the crash from before- clothes sprinkled with dirt and shoulders hunched as he tried to gather up the flower that had been growing in it. Another person with brightly colored hair had their back turned to Taemin, busy with something at the table which he couldn’t see. To be honest, he had been expecting something bigger, more magical and exciting, from the only coven in the city. He looked again at Jonghyun, who was returning from another room with a mug.

A sudden loud noise and flash of light drew Taemin’s attention back to the table. Now, sliding off the table was a tall, pissed-looking man with a fluffy ponytail. He pointed an accusing finger at the one who had been there alone just a moment ago, who also began to stand up. 

“Kim Kibum, you’re going to regret that.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Kim Kibum, who Taemin could now see was also tall. “Just be grateful I turned you back before our guest arrives.”

Ponytail guy looked over at Taemin then, lips thinning slowly. 

“What?” Kim Kibum turned around, producing an impressively shrill exclamation when they saw Taemin. “Jonghyun! Why didn’t you tell me they’d come in already!”

Jonghyun shrugged, offering the cup in his hands to Taemin. “You were busy, didn’t want to interrupt.”

Taemin sniffed the drink suspiciously, wondering why he was surprised that it was only tea. He took a tentative sip, almost spitting it out when Jonghyun threw an arm around his shoulders. Taemin could feel the muscles through Jonghyun’s loose sleeve. The dark liquid in his cup quickly became very, very interesting. In the background, he could hear Kim Kibum yelling at the flowerpot guy.

“Everybody, this is Taemin! Taemin, this is Kibum, they/them,” Jonghyun gestured, “Minho, he/him, and Jinki, any pronouns.”

Taemin looked up to greet each of them.

Jonghyun continued the introduction without missing a beat. He explained that Minho was a familiar like himself, and that his animal form was usually a crow but Kibum got mad at him last week and turned him into a frog. Oh, and Jonghyun was a cat, by the way. Kibum specialized in transformation magic and talismans, yeah all the jewelry and stuff was their handiwork, and also divination. They had reported that Taemin would arrive today. Jinki does mostly organic magic and suggestion, yeah, the plants are his hobby and everyone agrees he’s out of control.

“Jonghyun,” Kibum interjected, “shut up for one second, would you? The poor kid’s overwhelmed.”

Taemin exhaled. It was a lot to absorb. This was the whole coven? Just two witches? Although they did sound pretty powerful. He felt very small all at once, remembering that he was alone in this secluded place with some very dangerous people. Taemin wondered if they would let him leave now that he’d found them. His mind rushed trying to find an excuse to go.

Jonghyun hooked his finger under Taemin’s suspenders (it was a fashion statement, okay?) and snapped them against his chest. “Don’t be afraid,” he said, voice softer. “We’re not going to hurt you. The witches may seem scary at first but they’re both huge dorks!” He laughed. Taemin allowed himself a quiet chuckle.

“After all,” Jinki added, “you’re one of us, aren’t you?” 

Taemin blinked, looking around at the four of them. They had magic, just like him. “Uh, yeah. I can do illusions. And dream manipulation, sometimes.”

“Cool,” said Minho, slapping Taemin’s arm. “Welcome to the family.”

Jinki peeked over Minho’s shoulder. “You were intending on joining us, right? That’s why you came?” 

The coven might have been pitifully small, but they were all a lot more experienced than him. This didn’t feel as much like home as he’d expected, but he could learn here. It might become a sort of home, if he stuck around. Taemin smiled shyly. “Yeah. Thanks.”

He received four smiles in return, and Taemin’s pulse settled. This felt good, this felt right. This felt like maybe, just maybe, he really did belong here.

  
  
  



End file.
